Laptop and Computer Reviews

The Dell Inspiron 6000 is a midsize laptop with an entertainment slant. The design is quite similar to that found on a number of other Dell laptops, including the Inspiron 9300 and the XPS M140. The notebook is light silver with a white trim, and it measures about 1.5 inches thick, 14 inches across, and just less than 10.5 inches deep. The keyboard is firm and adequately responsive, and it’s big enough to work on comfortably. Below the keyboard is a nice-size touch pad with two big mouse buttons.

Our test unit weighed 6.6 pounds, or 7.5 pounds with the compact AC adapter–about average for a midsize and not quite light enough for comfortable travel. Overall, the case feels fairly sturdy, though the lid gives quite a bit when you push down on it. We like the silver media-control buttons that line the case’s front edge. They’re accessible even when the notebook’s lid is closed, and you can use them to adjust the volume (or mute) and toggle through tracks on a CD or scenes on a DVD. Two stereo speakers also sit along the Inspiron 6000’s front edge; they were louder and clearer than your average laptop speakers.

This Dell Inspiron 6000 has a lot more going for it than just its extra-high-resolution screen. We didn’t test the 6000’s standard six-cell battery; but we did test the nine-cell battery (a $99 option), and it lasted an impressive 5 hours and 7 minutes on one charge, making the 6000 an excellent candidate for the road–if you don’t mind its 7.5-pound weight (sans power adapter). An extra-fancy external power gauge helps you keep track of when you’ll need to recharge.

The Dell Inspiron 6000 does not have a “stick” for mouse control, only a touchpad. A Kensington Pocket Mouse is a recommended extra. Having only used desktop keyboards before, a laptop keyboard takes time getting used to, but the keys are big enough and have enough “depths” to give a real typing feeling.

The Inspiron 6000 when you first start it up. It’s like having an elephant sit atop your CPU, RAM, and hard drive it’s really that degrading to system performance. This bloatware is very annoying and there’s a lot of it to get rid of. With some patience it can be uninstalled without much of a hassle. Unfortunately, this stuff is practically an industry standard to install at the factory so you’re stuck with it despite what brand of system you chose, with some high-end and smaller company exceptions.

The Dell Inspiron 6000 delivers top-end components like the latest-generation Centrino, a fast 60GB hard drive, and a dual-format DVD burner—all for under $1,000.Great battery life. DVD±RW drive. Fast 5,400-rpm hard drive. Latest-generation Centrino technology.

The Dell Inspiron 6000 disappointed us in only a few areas. We missed having an external switch for controlling Wi-Fi scanning (you have to use a software utility instead). And the 6000’s memory card reader accepts only Secure Digital cards for exchanging data with PDAs, cameras, and other digital equipment, leaving Memory Sticks, CompactFlash cards, and other media incompatible.

Configaration:-

*  1.6 GHz Intel Pentium M 730 (Sonoma), 533MHz FSB and PCIe x16 chipset
* 4 USB ports
* 512 MB DDR2 400 MHz ram
* 15.4 inch WSXGA+ LCD Panel (Samsung)
* 60 GB Ultra ATA Fujitsu 4200rpm hard drive
* Integrated 10/100 network Ethernet card
* Microsoft Windows XP Home
* 64 MB ATi Mobility Radeon X300                                
* 24x CD-RW/DVD (Sony)
* 1 PCMCIA card slot
* 6-cell lithium ion battery
* Intel 2200 b/g internal wireless card
* VGA output
* 1 IEEE 1394 FireWire port
* Secure Digital I/O card slot
* Internal 56k modem
* 2 front facing speakers
* Audio-out (headphones) and Mic-in
* Optional S-Video and composite video out with adaptor cable
* 4 year on-site service warranty

Dell Inspiron 6000 Reviews:-

# notebookreview Review:- For the price that we paid for this 6000 system it has performed well over my two days of playing around with it. It have no doubt it will perform all of the tasks my brother needs it for in college without problems. Sure, there are a couple of aspects that could be better; especially the LCD. But overall I would recommend this system to users on a budget or college students. Gamers on a budget will want the upgraded X300 card and a faster hard drive. Otherwise, for common surfing, productivity, and portability this system delivers competitive results at a price undercutting most of the competition.

# pcworld Review:- You’ll like the 6000’s panel of dedicated CD controls and its surprisingly good stereo sound. (Only one other model in our roundup, the Fujitsu LifeBook N6010, offered better audio.)

There’s no instant-on button for playing discs without using Windows, but you can play CDs while the lid is closed, because the music buttons and speaker outlets remain exposed. Pressing one of the buttons momentarily lights the entire music panel’s bright blue LEDs, a helpful feature in dark environments.

# reviews.cnet Review:- Good battery life; adequate performance for basic productivity use; external media-control buttons; decent speakers; has all the ports and connections an average home user needs.